S! from the newest member. Please be sure to add Hammerwulf, Halgonzomoth, and Madgonzo to your friend's list.

Also, reposted from the LOTRO post in the Ready room:

For everybody who might be interested in the LOTRO plugins available (now that there is an API for tweaking the interface), here are some important posts from the official LOTRO forum:

Introduction to Lua UI Scripts. Many plugins require the base Turbine sample plugins available from this link.How to use Lua UI Plugins. What you need to know for basic operation. Long story short: at the chat window type "/plugins load <plugin name>". You need to do this every time you load a character.

Finally, massively.com has an article detailing the Top Five LOTRO Plugins. The article is dated Sept 17, and there are newer plugins available, but the plugins there are very valuable. One indispensable (IMHO) plugin is the Plugin Manager, which allows you to select and deselect your plugins on the fly. Then all you need to do when you start is type "/plugins load manager" and you'll be ready to go.

-Home Fries

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."-John Stuart Mill

The average Naval Aviator, despite the sometimes swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy, and caring.These feelings just don't involve anyone else.

I am a mad keen fan of "Lord of the Rings" to the point where I have Rob Inglis read parts of it to to me every night as a a bedtime story; and as you know I'm no spring chicken. I won't even go and see the movies as I don't want to have my own visuals changed, although I understand they have been very true to storyline.

The massively multiplayer game Lord of the Rings Online has recently gone free to play, and it now supports itself with the optional subscription (which gets you benefits) as well as the piecemeal downloads (many of which you don't need to purchase if you are a subscriber). The great thing is that you don't need to spend a cent until you hit level 20 or so, at which point you'll know whether the game is for you.

Just so you know, the US and European servers are run by different companies and are not interchangeable, so you're welcome to join us, but make sure you download the US version of the game and join us on the Windfola server.

BTW, the graphics of the game are very similar to the movie, and do well to capture the visuals and spirit of the Tolkien lore.

-Home Fries

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."-John Stuart Mill

The average Naval Aviator, despite the sometimes swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy, and caring.These feelings just don't involve anyone else.

The massively multiplayer game Lord of the Rings Online has recently gone free to play, and it now supports itself with the optional subscription (which gets you benefits) as well as the piecemeal downloads (many of which you don't need to purchase if you are a subscriber). The great thing is that you don't need to spend a cent until you hit level 20 or so, at which point you'll know whether the game is for you.

Just so you know, the US and European servers are run by different companies and are not interchangeable, so you're welcome to join us, but make sure you download the US version of the game and join us on the Windfola server.

BTW, the graphics of the game are very similar to the movie, and do well to capture the visuals and spirit of the Tolkien lore.

Thanks HF. I'll explore further, although heaven knows I don't need something else in my virtual life: I still have to finish "Myst, End of Ages". But that's another story .....

I still have to finish "Myst, End of Ages". But that's another story .....

I tried the first Myst game, and decided my time would be better spent attempting hari kari with a wooden spoon. LOTRO is IMHO much more enjoyable than the Myst games.

-Home Fries

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."-John Stuart Mill

The average Naval Aviator, despite the sometimes swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy, and caring.These feelings just don't involve anyone else.

I have to agree with HF. My experience with the online RPGs was limited to Guild Wars and then LOTRO. As I told HF the other night, I'm a Tolkien fanatic. I enjoy all the lore involved with the story and the game does a fine job recreating the "feel" of the books. It should be noted that you are not part of the fellowship, but rather you play in the back story. Things are happening around the fellowship as they make their epic journey. You are part of the events shaping the story surrounding the fellowship. You do have some limited interaction with them such as helping members of the fellowship in their preparations for leaving Rivendell, or helping Aragorn with tasks around Bree before meeting with Frodo, or finishing business for Gandalf as he begins his chase to Rivendell.

And then there is the land itself. The Party Tree and Bilbo's hole in Hobbiton, the Prancing Pony in Bree, seeing Weathertop in the distance as you enter the lone lands or the thrill as Rivendell unfolds itself before you after passing through the Gates of Imlidris. Walking the halls of Moria in the foots of the fellowship and finding the bridge where Gandalf "met his fate" with the Balrog. I could go on about the game, it's features and how fun it is, but I'd be writing for hours. Suffice to say, I don't usually play games constantly for three years unless it's Pacific Fighters, OFP/ArmA or something of the like. I've been playing LotRO since just after launch and it never bores me.

HF, that was a good time the other evening and I'm looking forward to many many more.

And OBTW, Battie, LOTRO will look awesome on your system with the rig you have and the graphics maxxed out.

-Home Fries

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."-John Stuart Mill

The average Naval Aviator, despite the sometimes swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy, and caring.These feelings just don't involve anyone else.

Don't mean to digress or start a fur-ball, but my attachment with Myst is because of its non-violence. I gave the original Myst to my two grandchildren aged 10 and 8. I used to play the role of Atris and leave emails, send text messages and slip little notes under their bedroom door to help them when they got stuck. We all had a ball, but there biggest fear was they might reach scary places or see scary things. Atris's two sons where about all they could take.

And that's what was so good: its targeted all ages. Unfortunately their on-line attempt came to nothing. LotRO, IMHO, is not for young children, and so be it.

Don't mean to digress or start a fur-ball, but my attachment with Myst is because of its non-violence.

Non-Violence? What kind of games do you play in mamby-pamby land? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhlWddAXSRA&NR=1A

-Home Fries

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."-John Stuart Mill

The average Naval Aviator, despite the sometimes swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy, and caring.These feelings just don't involve anyone else.

As for Lotro not being for little'uns, well, probably not. The combat isn't all that but the orcs and goblins can be rather interesting looking at the least and there are ghosts, evil spirits and nasty creatures out there that could scare little'uns. My kids watch from time to time but I'm careful to remind them that its a game and the monsters aren't real. Plus you have the added smoking pipe weed and the drinking of ale that they warn you about.

Here's an example of the Nasgul and the wurms they ride, among other things. This is also just a very cool video.

-Home Fries

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."-John Stuart Mill

The average Naval Aviator, despite the sometimes swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy, and caring.These feelings just don't involve anyone else.

He has to be getting paid to say this:quote:Customers Say..."Not only did we see an increase in download speeds and completion rates, the Pando downloader demonstrated that it would significantly reduce Turbine’s content delivery costs by utilizing a state-of-the-art peer-to-peer download technology."Turbine

Quote: Questions or need help with the downloads here? Here is a "Pando Media Booster" FAQ.

It gets worse. It doesn't. It takes you to a promo .......

promo? what do you mean.

BTW, you downloaded the high resolution version, right? That will look so good on your rig.

-Home Fries

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."-John Stuart Mill

The average Naval Aviator, despite the sometimes swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy, and caring.These feelings just don't involve anyone else.

No, standard version. I didn't get offered the HD version initially. Maybe I'm expecting too much. D/L is speed 20 to 250 Kbps at its best.

dang, that is slow. p2p probably isnt that good across the pond, so you're stuck primarily with the server.

-Home Fries

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."-John Stuart Mill

The average Naval Aviator, despite the sometimes swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy, and caring.These feelings just don't involve anyone else.